New eviction policy for some asylum seekers begins in New York City
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- At the city's migrant processing center in the East Village, it's the dawn of a new day for the men and women applying - and in some cases re-applying - for shelter.
The city's latest, more restrictive eviction policy took effect on Wednesday.
Adult migrants given a 30-day eviction notice one month ago will be removed from the shelter system.
"If we would not have done anything, we would have had 198,000 people still in our care instead of 65,000," New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
The city will evict about 250 migrants from the shelter system this week and the number will grow to roughly 15-thousand migrants currently housed in city-funded hotels, dorms and facilities across the five boroughs.
The city's previous policy, the 1981 "Right to Shelter" law, allowed migrants to receive a new placement by re-applying after 30 days.
Under the new policy, those who re-apply for a longer stay must now show they have 'extenuating circumstances' or prove they've made 'significant efforts' to resettle.
"Every single week we still get hundreds, if not thousands of people coming into the system. We need to make sure that we have the space to take care of the new guests that are coming into the city as well," Camille Joseph Varlack, Mayor Adam's Chief of Staff, said.
The new policy does not apply to migrant families with children.
Nonetheless, advocates for migrants and the homeless quickly denounced the updated rules.
'WIN' CEO Christine Quinn wrote in a statement, "Evicting families from shelter is not the answer to this crisis.... Instead of scapegoating our newest arrivals, we need comprehensive reforms at the City level that will get families into permanent housing faster."
The president of the New York Legal Assistance Group offered a prediction.
"We suspect as a community that they're going to wind up in the streets. I believe that we are going to see a rise in street homelessness this summer as individuals receive a 30-day notice and they don't have extenuating circumstances to be able to stay in shelter longer," Lisa Rivera said.
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